Awards Announced in UW-Madison/UW-Milwaukee
Intercampus Research Incentive Grants Program
Eight hybrid teams of faculty from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been awarded the first batch of Intercampus Research Incentive grants, awards designed to foster inter-institutional collaboration.
The awards totaling $398,000 will support a suite of projects ranging from the development of new materials to combat air pollution to the use of algae to clean wastewater and generate energy. Each award is in the range of $50,000 for one year.
The Intercampus Research Incentive Grants Program, announced in January by UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin and UWM Chancellor Carlos E. Santiago, is an initiative to foster research projects and scholarship undertaken jointly by researchers at the two institutions.
The program is funded by UW-Madison and UWM donors. Projects were selected by a committee of faculty and administrators from UWM and UW-Madison.
"We received many excellent proposals and we're excited by the prospects for each of the projects that received funding," says UW-Madison Provost Paul DeLuca. "Success here will not only yield valuable research results, but will also draw our institutions closer and provide a roadmap for future collaborations. That is a critical outcome."
Colin Scanes, UW-Milwaukee Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development commented, "I was very impressed by the quality of the proposals and the new collaborations being developed between Madison and Milwaukee. This bodes so well for the future. It is unfortunate that only eight can be funded."
Projects funded by the new initiative include:
- The use of algae for wastewater remediation and bioenergy production.
- Synthesis and characterization of gold nanoparticles for cell-based therapies.
- Enzymes as possible treatments of infections.
- Nano-scale film sensors for use in advanced manufacturing.
- Laser-assisted cold gas spraying for energy manufacturing.
- Photocatalytic and superhydrophopic materials to combat air pollution.
- Improving detection and infrastructure to better treat diabetic retinopathy.
- Psychological and neurlogical effects during fear conditioning in psychopathic offenders.